Kubica could be sidelined for 2011

Why do good people get hit with crap like this. It looks like Bruno Senna is getting a seat unless Kimi gets a call.



By Jonathan Noble and Michele Lostia Sunday, February 6th 2011, 22:10 GMT

Robert KubicaRobert Kubica could be out of action for the whole of the 2011 Formula 1 season as a result of the serious injuries he sustained in his rally crash on Sunday, medical staff have said.

The Renault driver underwent a seven-hour operation earlier today at the Santa Corona Hospital in Pietra Ligure following his accident on the opening stage of the Ronde di Andora rally.

He had lost control of his Super 2000 Skoda Fabia just a few kilometres into the event and crashed into a wall. The impact resulted in a length of crash barrier penetrating the cockpit of the car and hitting Kubica, badly injuring the right-hand side of his body.

As well as multiple fractures to his right arm, leg and hand, of more immediate concern was his partially severed right hand.

There were fears that the hand may have had to be amputated, but doctors managed to reattach the blood supply during a lengthy operation and are hoping the repair will be successful.

Doctor Igor Rossello, who is a hand specialist, told local media on Sunday night that it would take several days for doctors to assess the success of the operation - and warned that Kubica could need up to one year to recover.

"We need to wait for a week at least to verify whether the hand survives," Dr Rossello was quoted as saying by Italian media. "The nerve lesions are the ones that leave us with the most question marks over the recovery of functions.

"Rehabilitation will be relatively long, probably one year. He came here with multiple traumas, with several associated injuries. He won't necessarily have to undergo further surgery on the hand, but he will if needed."

Dr Rossello said that he expected it would take at least 12 months before Kubica would be able to drive an F1 car again - although he admitted racing drivers often recovered from injury far quicker than predicted.

When asked what the best prediction for Kubica to be back racing, he said: "One year is the best provision.

"I think it is quite difficult now, but you never know. Drivers are always very special patients. I have a lot of motorbike patients and they heal in a much faster way - faster than normal people."

Kubica's co-driver Jakub Gerber emerged uninjured from the accident, and said he did not know what had caused the Pole to go off the road.

"We were on the first four kilometres of the first special stage. I was looking at the notes and didn't notice that the car was skidding," he told Gazzetta dello Sport. "Only when we crashed I saw Robert holding his arm, and after a few moments he lost consciousness.

"Robert isn't just a great driver, he is a friend. I just hope he can recover soon."

Renault team principal Eric Boullier defended the decision to let Kubica keep rallying during the vital build-up period to the new F1 season, even though that decision now appears to have left his team without its lead driver for the year ahead.

"Robert is a person we love dearly: we are extremely sad and obviously shocked," he told the Il Vostro Giornale. "Whether it's a Lotus, a Renault or a Skoda it doesn't make any difference: it's nothing to do with business.

"We've let him do it because rallying is what he loves to do. Rallying is vital for Robert and for his sanity. Besides that, there is a reciprocal agreement. We knew the risks and so did he. We didn't want a robot or a corporate man for a driver."

Kubica has received an outpouring of good wishes from the F1 community after news of his injuries emerged - with a host of drivers, including Jenson Button, Rubens Barrichello, Heikki Kovalainen and Timo Glock - all expressing their hope that he recovers quickly.

Button said: "Shocking news about Robert Kubica. I wish him a speedy recovery."

Fernando Alonso, who is a good friend of Kubica's, even travelled to the Italian hospital on Sunday to speak to doctors - although it is not clear if he was able to see Kubica in person.

Very very sad news. Kubica is one of my favourite drivers. Not only bundles of talent, but he's a great guy with his feet well and truly grounded.

In short:
- One year in the best possible prognose.
- Impossible to tell if it heals completly.
- Concerns about the nerve system in the long term.
- Vasculair concerns in the short term.
- May require more surgery the coming week.
- Several bones, tendons, nerves broken, cut.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEe0084HoT4


I fear his F1 career is over : /

I suppose the real irony of the situation, would be if an Englishman was to be given his job

i'm utterly gutted for him...
hands are really really really difficult to anaesthetise and operate on, and its so damn easy to lose them...

he's the best driver in the world imo... and renault are looking sharp this season too... bloody tragic!

bloody hell Bobby!!
a month before the f1 season starts and you're frigging around in a rally car!

such a shame!

Sadly, he's apparently used-up all of his luck at Montreal 2007 - which in itself was quite some shunt to walk away from, and without a scratch...

Poor Bobby

Hopefully his F1 career will recover, if he's given the chance to return in a leading team.
Unfortunately, a whole year / season is a long long time to be side-lined in F1.
Maybe Senna on a race-by-race basis, with Bobby returning before the end of the 2011 season...?

He's lucky to be in one piece.

Hopefully Senna gets a shot at the seat.

frightening!

here's the vid of the guys that went right after him... those barriers are wrong everywhere...

That sucks. And the in car camera is truly frighting.

Lauda?

Raikonnen?

http://en.espnf1.com/f1/motorsport/story/40342.html

.

gueuzeman wrote:Raikonnen?

http://en.espnf1.com/f1/motorsport/story/40342.html

Heidfeld...!

Renault to evaluate Heidfeld at Jerez

By Jonathan Noble Wednesday, February 9th 2011, 18:55 GMT http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/89366


Nick Heidfeld will test for Renault at Jerez later this week as the outfit evaluates a replacement for the injured Robert Kubica.

The German has emerged as the leading contender to stand in for Kubica, who could be out for the remainder of the season as the result of the serious injuries he picked up in a rally crash at the weekend.

Although Renault has five reserve drivers, and is giving its lead one Bruno Senna a first test in its car this week, the team has made no secret of the fact that it will need an experienced driver to lead its team if Kubica is sidelined for a long time.

Heidfeld has held talks with Renault over the last 48 hours and agreement has been reached for him to run at Jerez at some point this week. Vitaly Petrov will test, as originally scheduled, on Thursday and Friday before Senna and Heidfeld are given mileage over the weekend.

Renault team owner Gerard Lopez said earlier today that the team would wait until after testing before deciding on who will partner Vitaly Petrov this year - and Heidfeld's chances will depend on how he compares pace-wise against Senna.

"We must wait for the Jerez tests now, and thankfully the Barcelona ones too, and see how the car is going, and how the driver - who will start the season and maybe ending it too - is doing. We don't know," he told IVG.it

"There are drivers who have had good races, for example Nick Heidfeld. We all know that Nick is rather good, but we don't know what level he is in now, we don't know how he does with our car. Same goes for Vitantonio Liuzzi, same goes - I don't know -for Bruno Senna, who last year was in a team with a car that could do nothing."

Heidfeld has been left without a seat after being replaced at Sauber at the end of last season by Sergio Perez, who brought valuable sponsorship backing from Mexico.

i'd be inclined to give it to Senna... he'll be gagging for a go in something good...

but it definitely makes sense to give heidfeld a shot, he's no slouch...

but i just think if they put it to Senna, he'll repay them in the way only a young man can...

and heidlfeld will only end up on the bench again next year...

What will be odd if if the sub driver comes in and beats Petrov?

TopContender wrote:What will be odd if if the sub driver comes in and beats Petrov?

Not really, Petrov is a pay driver.

da silva wrote:

TopContender wrote:What will be odd if if the sub driver comes in and beats Petrov?

Not really, Petrov is a pay driver.

Bad choice of words. I mean it would hillarious.

They need a 'number 1' driver in the car - that is, someone who has experience and can develop the car. This makes sense to me and why I believe they should avoid putting either Senna or Grosjean in the car. Renault may have a decent car straight out of the box and it would be a crying shame to lose any start-of-season advantage because of poor or misguided development because their drivers don't have experience.

Despite Heidfeld not being my preferred option, I think he being in the seat makes perfect sense.

PLAYLIFE wrote:They need a 'number 1' driver in the car - that is, someone who has experience and can develop the car. This makes sense to me and why I believe they should avoid putting either Senna or Grosjean in the car.

The same reason why Boullier also categorically ruled out the chances of Kimi Raikkonen or Nico Hulkenberg being given the drive, due to the Finn's rally commitments, and the young German's lack of experience. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/89386

Kimi being ruled-out I can quite understand.

But Nico? 'Tis a shame. I would have thought that Hulkenburg would be a good choice - a year's experience alongside Rubens in a half-decent car and a couple of good races towards the end of 2010 - coupled with his obvious hunger to succeed in F1 and get a good drive in the future.

Gelert wrote:

PLAYLIFE wrote:They need a 'number 1' driver in the car - that is, someone who has experience and can develop the car. This makes sense to me and why I believe they should avoid putting either Senna or Grosjean in the car.

The same reason why Boullier also categorically ruled out the chances of Kimi Raikkonen or Nico Hulkenberg being given the drive, due to the Finn's rally commitments, and the young German's lack of experience. http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/89386

Kimi being ruled-out I can quite understand.

But Nico? 'Tis a shame. I would have thought that Hulkenburg would be a good choice - a year's experience alongside Rubens in a half-decent car and a couple of good races towards the end of 2010 - coupled with his obvious hunger to succeed in F1 and get a good drive in the future.

Totally agree, Hulkenberg would be my pick for the seat too

I think he is a real talent and certainly showed in 2nd half of the season that he is the goods. But he does lack 'experience' and I think that is what Renault will miss. The last couple of years, it seems that development throughout the year counts more than having a talented driver. The improvements of Sauber last year I think prove that.

PLAYLIFE wrote:The last couple of years, it seems that development throughout the year counts more than having a talented driver. The improvements of Sauber last year I think prove that.

The first half of the season was marred by numerous technical retirements, which were unprecedented in the team’s history. After the first eight races, the team had a single World Championship point to its name. By the end of the season this had risen to 44, of which Go-by-bashi had picked up 32, with De la Rosa and Heidfeld – who replaced the Spaniard in the last five Grands Prix – each contributing six points. http://www.sauberf1team.com/en/team/history.cfm?t=5

So - Renault need to field a couple of Rookies, fed on Sushi and extract of Kamikaze...?

So - ole' Beardy got the vote then...

Heidfeld confirmed at Renault
By Pablo Elizalde Wednesday, February 16th 2011, 17:31 GMT http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/89513

The Renault team has confirmed that Nick Heidfeld will be Robert Kubica's replacement this season, starting from this week's test at Barcelona.

Heidfeld was expected to land the drive after impressing the outfit during his test at the Jerez circuit last week.

The 33-year-old will be working as an official Renault driver starting at this week's test at Barcelona, the German driving on Saturday and Monday.

"I would have liked to come back to Formula 1 in different circumstances, but I'm proud to have been given this chance," said Heidfeld. "Everything has happened so quickly, but I've been very impressed by what I have seen so far in terms of the facilities and the dedication of the people at Enstone.

"I really enjoyed the test last week in Jerez and I've already settled in well with the guys at the track. I have a good feeling for the car, which is quite innovative. I'm extremely motivated and can't wait for the season to begin."

Heidfeld will race alongside Russian Vitaly Petrov while Kubica recovers from his injuries following his accident during a rally.

"The team has been through a very difficult couple of weeks and we had to react quickly," said team boss Eric Boullier. "We gave Nick a chance in Jerez last week and he really impressed us. He's quick, experienced and is very strong technically with his feedback and understanding of the car.

"We always said the priority was to have an experienced driver in the car and we feel he is the ideal man for the job. We are pleased to welcome Nick to the team and look forward to a strong start to the season with him and Vitaly in Bahrain."

Heidfeld is the right choice.